Look for the Union Label & Representative

And I am back at work. Hired into a new position and happy to work there.
And then there is that jANUS decision that says that I don't have to join a union as a teacher anymore and I can still get the contract & benefits.

Bull.

The Union President didn't have to sell me on joining the Union. I sold him on why I needed to join.

From the salary, benefits, retirement package, professional development, support, and a whole ton more.

The Unit that I joined, after jANUS, maintained 100% membership.
They understand that Unions are the reason that they have what they have.

I read of a charter school in Buffalo that had four (4!) teachers for a class in one year. What did those students learn? Really?
That turnover improved student achievement?
Teachers in charter schools leave  because of the poor conditions - low pay, no benefits, if any, no rights. 

I attended my first meeting today with pride because I belong to a good unit.
We covered quite a bit and talked about the impact of the 2018 Election and what it means for teachern in NY.
We also discussed the use of the court system ( spell check tried to make that corpse system. This tablet is pretty smart & has a sense of humor.) by the reactionaries to destroy Unions.  We hit on local, state, and federal issues. Got to love solid and educated Union leadership.

Workers need to take note - Unionized work places have what they have because the workers band together.
The capitalist class is not going to give us fair pay and benefits unless we demand and fight for them.
It took how long to get $15 an hour?
Strong Unions would have had that long ago.
You want better pay and benefits - join a Union.
It's that simple.

To a Union I belong.
Because of a Union, I am Strong.

Look for the Union Label.

Capitalists rank their generosity

Wegman's is the hot spot to work in according to the capitalist rag sheet Fortune magazine.

Better than average wages,  time and a half pay for part time employees, extra holiday pay,  and flexible scheduling. 

I am told that their employees have access to health insurance and college scholarships as well.

I'm typing this up offline,  but when I lived in Buffalo,  there were no close or convenient Wegman's stores.  The only stores I remember are in the suburbs and not easy to get to.  So these nice paying jobs are not necessarily available to the urban poor.  The people who could benefit from them the most.

Even where I live now,  the closest Wegman's is an hour away in Geneseo.  Not convenient.

So the "best jobs" and workplace for the unskilled or low skilled working class are  out of their reach.

How convenient.

And praiseworthy evidently.

Light Rail Solutions

Occasionally the Buffalo News prints an article that has a solution of merit. Today's news (July 15, 2016) carries such an article. It's on the first page of Section B. Not front page where it belongs. But still.

It involves tearing down that unsightly Skyway and building a light rail line – really just allowing light rail to run on existing lines and then extending it up into a central point in Buffalo. The DL&W Terminal is mentioned. I could also see the Central Terminal being brought back to its former glory (or something near it) as a central hub of this line.

And while we are at it, let's extend light rail to Niagara Falls and out through Amherst and Williamsville?(It could even run underground so that they would not have to deal with trains on Main Street.)

Mass transit, such as light rail, has many advantages over cars. First there is no hassle about parking or finding a parking space. My friends that have bus passes even note the free park and ride locations. (OK. UB is overly crowded but LaSalle is often wide open. And the park and ride over by the Eastern Hills Mall id often open as well.) And the cost of parking downtown is ridiculous. The cost of a Metro Pass alone is paid for in a week of downtown parking.

Second is the cost of gas, which bounces up and down worse than a kid in a bounce house at a birthday party. The cost of a pass is low when one looks at the cost of that.

Third, of course is the environmental impact. Buses are running greener and light rail runs on electric that comes from Niagara Falls. (Nothing greener than water turbine generated electricity. I'll even take wind turbine or solar.)

Fourth – for us union folk – is that bus drivers and mechanics are all union jobs. Those are good wages and benefits.

I can go on about how much I think the idea needs to be pursued.

It needs to be expanded even more than what I mentioned above.

We have the rail lines that are slowly being abandoned to the south towns. Let's reinvigorate then with passenger lines down Route 400 all the way to Arcade and Elicottville the the regional skiing hubs. Also down the 90 / Thruway to Dunkirk, Olean, and Jamestown.

Lets get it going up to Niagara Falls and over to Canada. Also over to Rochester. Even Batavia.

If sufficient lines were rehabilitated and opened up people would use them, My friend tells me about the Arcade & Attica Railroad and how people line up to ride on that train. Granted it's an old steam engine and it has a historical appeal. Still, travel by train/rail/whatever you want to call it is more efficient in many ways over travel by car or other singular gas based travel. Add WI-fi to the lines and t just became even more engaging for those that would rather surf the web than watch the scenery out then windows.

Add a dining car and it just became even more attractive. I can count on one hand how many times I go driving on the 400 or anywhere without a snack or cup of coffee/tea going (or at least packed) and that adds to the difficulty of driving and increases the possibility of an accident.  Light rail and mass transit reduces that possibility.

And I can go on about the need to expand light rail and mass transit across our urban centers and region.

This is one time that I agree strongly with Congressman Brian Higgins.

My disagreement is that he doesn't go far enough in the desire to expand light rail.

Hopefully he has a desire to expand it further and just hasn't released the idea publicly.

Striking against Verizon

Verizon workers went on strike to protect the benefits that they have worked long and hard for.

Who are they striking against?  Wall Street, capitalism,  and the ever growing demand for profit.

The front lines of the working class are the CWA and other unions that are fighting to protect the incomes that they have earned building the company and keeping it solvent.

The overpaid and under worked CEO wants the workers to give up their salary and benefits so that he can give himself a pay raise some time down the road.

We must support the unionized workers and say (a firm and resounding) NO.

NO to wage cuts for the workers.

NO to insurance cuts and premium increases on their insurance.

NO to retirement benefit cuts.

If you look at it properly,  the current CEO and administration (presidents, vice-presidents, etc) did not even build the company.  They came on later and padded their salaries and benefits at the expense of the workers.

They are also the ones that build over priced office buildings that cost the company dearly in profits.

They are the ones that buy the expensive mahogany desks,  nib pens, and other overpriced luxuries that do nothing for the company.

If there are salary cuts,  then take it out of their (the administrative) salaries.
How many telephone lines do they service?
How many houses do they connect?
Do they go out in the crappy weather to service someone's lines when a phone is  not working?

If there are to be benefits cuts, then cut their (the administrative) salaries.
After all,  how much insurance do you need for a paper cut?

If there are retirement benefit cuts,  take it off the top.
Regular workers have to fund their own retirements,  why not the top?
Who are they that they deserve something special?

And the non-unionized workers need to stop picking up the slack for the strikers.
All they are proving is that fewer workers can do all the work that the striking workers normally do.
So fewer workers doing more work for the same money is a recipe for a workplace disaster.
Think about it - they are slicing their own throats.

So we need to support the CWA and other unions that are striking.

An injury against one is an injury against all.

Update:  I would like to add the IBEW to the list  of unions that are on strike.  For some reason I could not remember them when I was hashing this out in 5 minutes.

Keep Calm - Just Recovering.

Blogmeister has been down, but not out for the count.

Last Monday I had some oral surgery that I knew was going to result in my being down approximately 1/3rd of the teeth in the left side of my mouth. Thankfully I did not have dry socket – salt water rinses 3 times a day and careful eating & drinking helped prevent that.

It's just that if you are hypo-glycemic a liquid diet does not bode well and requires some changes that I forgot to ask about. So Thursday night my blood sugar levels were a mess and Friday I required bed rest and other medical assistance.

1. Thankfully I have insurance. One of the benefits of my employment is dental & health insurance that helped cover the costs. Not entirely, but they are much less than out of pocket.

2. Thankfully I have learned discretion in dealing with my friends and their political views – many belong to the two capitalist parties and we deal with each others' political views and periodically take a jab (and give one too). And when the numbers are down – like blood sugar – and I needed a ride to a hospital – people were there.

So capitalism has a weakness. Friendship and respect for each other. I'd do the same for them & they did what was needed for me.

I'm better. Not yet 100%. Good enough to go back to work. Which leads me to point #3.

3. Sick days. I took 2. I have 12 contractually.

And I have all this not because the government is gracious. Neither is my boss.   It is because my predecessors in the place where I work fought for a union, won it, and passed the responsibility for keeping what they won to us.

We're negotiating a new contract. I have not heard any specifics, but the negotiators refuse to bring anything to the union unless they think it is good.

So, on doctors' orders (several of them) I am to take it easy and keep calm and slow down for a bit.

The blog might be a little light, but I will keep it going and get the furnace stoked hot soon.

Evidently I get a little moody when blogging and that can affect my blood sugar.

So I need to keep calm when updating the world on reality.

Lesson of the day: Unionize.

And keep good friends.

And keep calm.

The revolution needs living revolutionaries.

Piecemeal Protests.

I stand for action. I like doing things. I like talking about things. I like educating people. In a way that makes me who I am.

On the TV and in the newspaper I read about actions this week. And they are actions I support wholeheartedly. I understand the people's demands. I support their causes. I believe that they are sincere. I do everything I can to support them. I question what the outcomes will be.

There were protests at Catholic run hospitals this week about staffing shortages– specifically nurses. I would never want to go to a hospital that was short on staff. That's my life in danger. I've been to the Emergency Room too many times for my own comfort. The first person to greet me? A nurse. After admission – a nurse worked to get the essentials correct for the doctor. Before leaving – the nurse made sure I understood everything that I needed to do. Coming out of a concussion, the first person a friend of mine saw was a nurse. Nurses make the hospital run. Nurses make the hospital safe. Nurses were trying to educate us about how the capitalist system is making hospitals unsafe by cutting their staff – the very people who have the most contact with patients.

I find it interesting that when the hospitals have to cut staff & pay, the CEO's pay is never touched. They are the most expensive employee in the hospital. Why are they sacred? They have the least contact with patients (as in virtually none).

The nurses were out there alone. We, the people needed to be there with them. We weren't. When they get cut, out lives are put in danger. How many people think that way?

Then there was the $15 NOW strike. Support the strike. I worked in a restaurant for over a decade. I know the conditions – the heat, the speed, the shortages of whatever is needed on the line. It's crazy back there. I also know they get next to nothing for all the profits they produce while some CEO is raking in the cash over work that other people do.

And I know that if $15 NOW has their demands met, the costs will be passed on to the consumer. Not that it needs to be that way. The costs could very easily be absorbed by the corporation by adjusting the salaries, benefits, and severance packages of those employees that do not directly produce profits – the CEO, Board of Directors, Presidents and Vice Presidents – downward. Big time. The real leech on any economic system is the administrative staff with their salaries, benefits, and severance packages. They are made to look important. In reality, they are just employees like everyone else. Expensive and overpaid employees.

The $15 NOW people marched alone. Where were the union workers supporting them? Restaurant workers are among the largest group of workers in the country and they are ripe for organizing. Unions should have been marching with them, side by side showing support.

They marched alone. Just like the nurses. They have our interests at heart. Where were we? (Those that could have made it to the protests and joined them?)

The facts of the matter are that the capitalist class is going to play the demands of the nurses and $15 NOW against the working class. They are masters of that game. Any time any sort of action comes up the capitalists play the working class against itself. They use fear tactics (costs will go up, your needs won't be met, we'll have to cut other workers, etc.)

We need to be with the nurses. We need to be with $15 NOW. We need to show the capitalist owners that we are on to their game and that we demand the rules be changed or we won't play.

And they know that if the people unite against them, that they will lose.

They are counting on us not figuring that out.

Well, I just told you how they play.

Now let's go play the game.

And let's change the rules.

A hand has 5 fingers. Take a swipe at someone with the had open and the fingers spread out and they won't notice.

Make it into a fist and they will.

The universal symbol of the socialist movement is a raised fist.  And for a good reason.  Imagine  what would happen to capitalism if we the people said "No more."

We need to unite with the nurses and $15 NOW and every movement to show the capitalists who is going to win.

Because if the nurses lose, we lose. Our health.

Because if the $15 NOW lose, we lose. Our income.

Let's play to win.